Coordination + Reliability Testing Completed By China For Their Long March 5 Rocket

China's Long March 5 rocket.

[SatNews] Chinese scientists have completed a ground test on the power system of the country's next-generation carrier rocket which may fly as early as next year, according to Xinhaunet.com.

Scientists test-fired the engines of Long March 5, which uses non-toxic and no-polluting liquefied propellant, on a ground facility to test "coordination and reliability" of the power system, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) said on Monday.

The Long March-5 rockets, designed for the final chapter of China's three-step—orbiting, landing and finally returning—lunar program, and for the launches of future space stations, will have a payload capacity of 25 tons to LEO, or 14 tons to GTO. A test flight for Long March 5 has been scheduled in 2016 from China's Hainan province, the SASTIND stated.